Small Heart
by darkonesroses
Summary: When Rumplestiltskin came to the kingdome of Sir Maurice, Belle was only 10 years old. But the deal was still struck. An interesting take on Skin Deep I came up with a while ago and finally decided to publish it. See how Belle grew up in the Dark Castle! Eventual romance Please review!
1. Chapter 1

"Sir, there is terrible news. The town of Avenly has fallen to the ogres attack."

"Oh my gods," Maurice gasped. Belle poked her head out from under the table. Avenly... It wasn't a town she was familiar with, but when anything fell because of the ogres, she had been told to be worried. Her father stood above her, along with the other knights and a number of people she didn't know. They gathered around the table she played under, which on top of was plans of attacks to face the ogres. Belle had never seen an ogre, but they didn't sound nice, because there was a whole army of them heading to the kingdom to destroy it. Belle didn't want the kingdom to be destroyed; where would she put all her toys and books?

King Maurice, Belle's father, sighed heavily and went over to his throne, mumbling on about how all was lost and there was no hope left for the kingdom. He mumbled a lot like that recently, and Belle wasn't sure if it was true or not. Quietly, she crept out from under the table and went over to him, crawling up on his lap.

"Oh, Belle," Maurice sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you or the kingdom. I have failed as a king and a father." "But... what about the man you sent help to?" Belle asked.

"He is no man... And who told you about that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...Gaston over heard you talking about it and told me," Belle admitted. "It wasn't my idea! I didn't ask! He just told me! He's always sneaking into the meetings and listening."

Maurice only sighed and adjusted his crown on his head. Belle chewed on her lip. She didn't want to get in trouble again.

"Well... he's not coming," the king said. "Our offer must have been too small because he never responded. We must be on our own now."

"But... he could be on his way, couldn't he?" she asked. He looked at her and smiled sadly at his daughter, patting the top of her small head.

"Well... I'm afraid it's too late for that, my dear," he sighed sadly.

_Thra-dump. Thra-dump. Thra-dump_. Three knocks came from the heavy wood door on the other side of the room. Everyone turned to the door.

"Is that him?" Belle asked and she got down from her father's lap. Holding Maurice's hand, she went over to the door with the rest of the knights and the king. Maurice ordered for the door to be opened, but when it was, no one was there.

"W-Where is he?" Belle asked.

"Over here, dearie!" a voice cried, and everyone in the room turned to the back of the room, where a strange man sat in the king's throne. He wasn't very tall, but he scared Belle a bit. His face was dark, looking like it was green and gold colored instead of skin. He wore strange clothes, leather pants and jacket and boots. And yet his eyes were something else all together, looking... almost human, in fact.

"I believe you sent me a message," the man said. "Something along the lines of 'Help us! Help us! We're being killed! Please come save us!' correct?"

His voice reminded Belle of a giddy child, and he moved his hands dramatically as he spoke. He was very unusual, but Belle refused to show fear to this man, so she let go of her father's hand and stood alone.

"Yes. Yes we did." Maurice spoke, his voice shaky and quiet. "Can you help us?"

"Oh of course I can!" the man laughed a strange laugh that sounded like a child and Belle couldn't help but giggle at it. Both Maurice and the man looked at her. Her father's look was scolding and silencing, but the mans was expressionless. He looked at her up and down over and over for a moment and then turned back to the king. "Yes of course I can protect your little town from these ogres. However, I do require payment. And I'm afraid that your offer of gold is, shall we say... meaningless? I _make_ gold, so that's not going to do."

"...What do you want?" Maurice asked, unsure. The man looked at him for a long moment before his hand pointed at something: Belle.

"Me?" Belle asked. Her? She was only ten years old. What could he possibly want with her?

"_NO!_" Maurice roared and moved in front of his daughter. "You will not take her from me!"

"Yes, you dearie," the man said, ignoring Maurice and looking at Belle. "If you come with me, your whole kingdom would be saved." "But... why me?" belle asked.

"You're not taking my daughter!" Maurice repeated, "Get out now!" "Papa..." Belle said quietly, stepping out from behind her father. "Please, let... let me talk to him." Maurice fell silent, and Belle slowly went up to the man. There was still plenty of distance between the two of them, but she was still scared, even though that she didn't show it.

"Why me?" she asked again. The man smiled at her and knelt down to her eye level.

"I need someone to help me around my castle, dearie," he said. "Someone to clean up and help me around. Can you cook or clean?"

"Yes... Both," Belle admitted. "I play in the kitchen a lot."

"Wonderful," the man smiled. "You're already quite fit for the job."

"She'll not be going!" Maurice said loudly. The man ignored the king and Belle only glanced at her father, then turned back to the man.

"And... how long would I be there, helping?" she asked.

"Well, dearie, that's the thing about being a servant," the man said. "You would have to stay with me forever. Do yo know how long that is?"

"Yes..." Belle said. "A very very long time."

"Yes," the man nodded. "But if you were to come with me, your whole kingdom would be safe. Your family and friends. Everyone. You would be the hero. All you have to do is say yes, dearie."

"Never! I've heard enough! Belle, go to your room, and you! Out!" Maurice yelled and the man stood up, still smiling.

"Very well. Enjoy your ogre problem," he said and started walking away, out the door. Belle stood where she was for a long moment. Suddenly she whipped around and ran after the man.

"Wait! Wait!" she cried. The man stopped and turned slowly.

"Belle, no! Don't trust him!" Maurice cried. Belle didn't listen to her father and went right up to the man.

"You-You promise? If I go with you, everything is safe? My daddy and friends in town? Everyone? You promise?" she asked. The man looked at her and did a little bow.

"You have my word," he said. Belle swallowed and looked at her father. He was shaking his head no at her and motioning for her to go to him. She sighed and turned back to the man.

"And... you have my word, too," she said quietly. "I'll... I'll go with you. Forever."

"Deal!" the man smiled, and held out his hand. Belle hesitated and shook hands with him.

"NO!" Maurice roared. "No Belle! You can't go with him! You can't go with this... beast!"

The man only laughed his funny little laugh again. Belle sighed and looked at her father.

"Papa, I... I have to. I'll save the whole kingdom," she said.

"But you can't go! I forbid it!" Maurice shouted.

"Ah ah ah!" the man shook his finger at the king and rested his hand on Belle's small shoulder. Belle felt uneasy under his touch but she didn't show it. "I'm afraid there's no turning back. You see, the deal: _it's struck_."

Belle swallowed again. That was it. She was going to go with this man, forever. And she didn't even know his name. She was starting to regret this decision. She could only look at her father, whose eyes were starting to fill with tears, before she felt the man's grip on her shoulder tighten a little, and he led her from the room.

'_Good-bye, father,_' she whispered in her mind as she walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

"Now, I'm going to need your name, dearie," the man said. Belle wasn't listening. She was too busy looking around. He had taken her to his castle. It was large and very dark inside. There were curtains covering the windows, so she couldn't see much. The only light that was there was from the fireplace on the wall to her left. There was a very long, tall table in the almost middle of the room with only one chair. There were display stands that held various objects that Belle couldn't see very well, but something looked like a candelabra and a clock, and a branch with golden stuff on it. Maybe because it was night that he had the curtains closed. Maybe he would open them tomorrow morning. Far in the left corner was a spinning wheel. It was very big, taller than herself, almost as tall as the man himself. She didn't know how to work a spinning wheel, but maybe he would show her later.

"Your name, dearie?" the man repeated firmly and Belle snapped out of her thoughts.

"...Belle," she said, trying to be loud so he could hear her, and so she didn't seem afraid.

"Very well then, dearie," he said. "Now then, let's get you to your... room..."

He started walking a little faster, but she stopped. When he realized she wasn't following, her turned. "Well, come come, dearie. We don't have all day."

"Um... I don't know your name..." she said timidly, wringing her hands. He just stood there, looking at her for the longest time. Then he bowed at the waist dramatically, and smiled.

"Rrrrrumplestitlskin," he said, rolling the R. Belle couldn't help but giggle. The way he spoke sometimes sounded so silly. She curtsied back to him.

"Well then, Mr. Rumplestiltskin," she said, "it's nice to meet you."

He smiled and straightened and continued walking, this time Belle following him. He led her downstairs to a strange, cold place made of stone and heavy wooden doors appeared on the walls every now and then. He then stopped a particular door and and with the wave of his hand, it opened. Belle looked inside and stopped smiling. The room was empty except for a wooden cot with a flimsy blanket and hard pillow in the corner, wedged between the wall. There was a very small window up high on the left wall. That was it. There was nothing else. She looked at him.

"My... room?" she asked.

"Well, 'room' sounds a lot better than 'dungeon'," his smile turned sly and evil, and he pushed Belle into the room without another word, closing the door.

"Wait! Wait no! Don't put me in here!" Belle ran to the closed door and pounded on it with her small fist. There was no answer. She tried pushing the door open but it was either too heavy or locked. She breathed heavily and slumped onto the ground in front of the door. She missed her papa. She was never going to see him again. She missed her room. She would never play with her toys or sleep in her warm bed again. She missed the kitchens and maids and her Nannie and her puppy at home. She even missed Gaston a little bit. She was never going to go home.

She cried.

Yes, it was cruel to gain her trust and then throw her in the dungeon like that, but he honestly didn't know where to put her. Put her in her own room and she would think herself a guest, not a prisoner. Not giving her a room at all was even more cruel, so the dungeon would have to do. Anyways, he was the Dark One. He shouldn't care about anyone but himself. He couldn't afford to.

Rumplestiltskin ignored the girls cries to be let out and her pounding on the door. Instead he went up to the main room and sat at the spinning wheel. He sat there for a minute, lost in thought, before he started the soothing task before him; spinning straw into gold. As he sat there, turning the wheel methodically, his mind wandered. Wandered back to the time before his power. When Milah was with him. When Bae was there. Bae. Sometimes it was hard to think about the boy, for the memory of the last time Rumple saw him was a bad one.

_"You coward! You promised! Don't break our deal! PAPA!"_

_'No. Stop it. You're only going to make it worse.' _Rumple told himself, using a tone he hadn't used in years; the human tone.

He started thinking about the girl... What was her name again? Oh, he would remember later. She was very young, maybe a little too young for him to take her to work for him. But what was done was done. No turning back now. He wasn't exactly sure why he had asked her to come with him. It was obvious that the castle needed some care, but that could easily be fixed with magic. Maybe he was just getting lazy.

'_Maybe you're just getting _lonely_, you old fool. Maybe you need another child in your life,_' the voice at the back of his mind said. He shook his head quickly, pushing the thought away. No. The girl would never mean anything to him. Ever. She couldn't. She _wouldn't_. Never.

When dinner time rolled around, Rumple wasn't very hungry, but he thought that the girl would be. (Gods, what _was _her name,?) After a short time thinking, he made a tray of warm bread, cheese, and water appear from thin air. This would do for her. Now how to get it to her? He could just whisk it to her by magic, but it would probably scare her and she probably wouldn't eat it if that happened. It was very awkward for him to carry the tray through the castle. He, the Dark One, was serving dinner to a child whom he had brought here so _she_ could serve _him_. What was he doing? This was ridiculous...

She jumped, startled when the door opened. She was huddled on the wooden bed, the flimsy blanket wrapped around her tightly. She looked at him with her blue eyes, her beautiful- pretty- ...blue eyes. He saw that she had been crying, tear lines quite visible on her cheeks, her lip wobbling, her eyebrows pushed together and up. It was a face that Bae often made when he was small. For a moment Rumple's hands shook, caught in the memories. She reminded him of Bae so much right now, and father's instinct told him to go to her side and comfort her... He pushed the thoughts and memories out of his head as fast as he could. He was the Dark One. He felt nothing.

"Thought you might be hungry," he said and he set the tray on the ground in the middle of the room. She looked at him suspiciously, glancing at the food and him. "It's not poisoned. Now eat. You have along day of work tomorrow, dearie."

"I have a name," she said quietly. "Remember? It's Belle."

_Belle. _Of_ course! _He  
cursed himself for not remembering, not out loud of course...

"Dearie, you belong to me now. I may call you what I wish," he sighed and walked out, locking the door behind him. Alright, maybe that wasn't the best first impression of him that he was doing, but he had to keep reminding himself that he shouldn't care what she thought. He was her master now. This was going to have to take some time to get used to...


	3. Chapter 3

The dungeon was very cold. Belle wrapped herself in the blanket tightly but it barely did anything. For almost the whole night she was too cold for sleep. She finally fell asleep, thank goodness, but in the morning when Rumplestiltskin came to wake her up, she had dark circles underneath her eyes and she shivered a lot. Rumple did feel a little sorry for her, after all she was only ten, but he didn't do anything.

Why was he being so cruel to her all of a sudden? Wasn't it just yesterday when he was kneeling to her eye level and being patient and kind with her? She must think him a monster now.

He _was_ a monster.

When he took her to the kitchen he asked her what she knew how to make for breakfast.

"Um... tea. Toast. And boiled eggs," she replied. "And I can slice ham, too."

` Boiled eggs, toast, tea and ham. Wasn't the worst breakfast he had ever had. What was he doing? He wasn't prepared to have a child in his castle, let alone have her cook for him. This was getting ridiculous. This was a mistake. He sighed.

"How about we make breakfast together, dearie?" he suggested.

"You can cook?" she asked.

"Well I had to survive on my own some how, yes?" he snapped and had some ingredients for breakfast appear. She was a little surprised at the sudden appearing but she quickly recovered. He showed her to to make an omelet and heat up the ham. She made tea, and he had to admit it was pretty good. She burned the first batch of toast but the second one came out well. This would have been alright except the fact that she broke several dishes in the process of the entire cooking session. He was starting to get rather annoyed and had to stop himself from snapping at her. She was only a child. From now on, he was just going to have food appear for both of them... but she would still make tea.

He sat the table as she served him. She was still sort of his servant, so yes, she served him. She gave him his plate and then went back to get the tea. He saw her hands shake as she lifted the teapot and poured his tea. He watched her, really wanting her not to break another dish. She didn't drop the teapot and she carried the cup to him. She was going to hand it to him but she let go too soon and it fell to the ground with a _clink_. The tea splashed all over his boots. That was it.

He tightened his hands into fists and clenched his jaw. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily, trying so very hard not to yell at her.

"Dearie, this is the fifth dish of mine that you have broken," he said. "If you break another one, so help me-"

"But-But it's not broken, see?" she stooped down and picked up the cup. Indeed it was still intact. "It's-It's just um..." she searched for the right word, "...chipped. I didn't break it."

He looked at the cup. She was right; it was just chipped. A small triangle cut into the rim of it. He stared at it for a moment before he looked back to her. He eyes were full of a scared hope that he wouldn't be angry and that she could get away as fast as she could. He sighed.

"...Well, it's just a cup. Fill it back up and try not to break it." he said finally. She nodded and successfully delivered him his tea the second time. "Along with serving me tea and regular meals," he continued, "you will clean the castle as best you can, dust, wash my clothes, and brings me fresh straw when I am spinning."

"Spinning?" she asked. "You mean like this?" She stuck her arms out and began to twirl around like a dancer.

"No, no, no, stop that!" he snapped and she stopped, looking dizzy. "When I'm spinning straw into gold, foolish girl!" And he pointed to the spinning wheel in the corner. She looked and a look of realization and embarrassment came over her face. Then she began to giggle.

"What are you sniggering at?" he asked. She turned to him and tried to cover her mouth to suppress the giggles, but it only made it worse.

"The spinning wheel makes more sense. If you started spinning the way I did with straw in your had, it'd look funny."

Rumplestiltskin had to use every ounce of restraint not to burst out laughing at the image of him spinning around with straw flying out of his hand. Even so, a slight smile pushed it's way onto his lips.

"That'll be quite enough of that, dearie," he said. "Go start your chores by cleaning up that mess in the kitchen."

* * *

"OH NO!" the girl's shriek came from downstairs. Rumple almost fell off the stool. What had happened?! What had gone wrong?! All he had said was to go down to lower rooms and bring him back some straw and now she had screamed! Had she hurt herself?! Damn his fatherly instincts as he almost sprinted down the stairs to find her. Out of the millions of scenarios that went through his head, this he was not expecting. She was not injured, not even a scrape. She had dropped the basket of straw and the straw had spilled everywhere. She was on the ground, picking it up. What on earth...?

"What happened?" Rumple asked, commanding his heart rate to slow down form a million beats a second. _She's not even hurt, you fool, _his mind said to him. _Get a hold of yourself._

"Sorry, Mr. Rumpelstiltskin sir. I tripped," she said, placing the straw in the basket again.

"You...tripped..." he said, his hands at his side clenching into fists. She nodded.

"My foot got caught with my dress and I fell," she explained. "My dress ripped a lot." She showed him that he hem of her dress had a large hole in it, and now it was dirty. This was what she had screamed about? Her dress getting torn?!

"I'm sorry if I scared you..." she said, standing up and picking up the basket.

"I do not get scared, dearie," he said, his anger rising. "And the next time... you scream like a banshee is upon you... _it better be about something more important than __**yourbloody dress**__ GETTING A RIP IN IT__**!**_" He snatched the basket away from her. Her eyes were wide and beginning to fill with tears. The louder his voice had gotten the more she had shrunk back and cowered like...like she had been expecting him to hit her...

Rumplestiltskin was many things. But never once was he ever an abuser of children. The very idea of him hitting a child shook him to his shriveled black heart. What had happened in her past to think that someone would ever hit her? She was royalty after all...

"Belle I... I-I didn't mean to shout so loud I..." he fumbled over his words like an idiot, trying to figure out a way to apologize without actually using to words 'I'm sorry'. The Dark One never apologizes sincerely, least of all to a ten year old.

"Just... Make sure you don't scream like that unless it's something serious, and I won't yell at you, alright?" he said, not looking directly at her. She looked up at him and nodded, the fear fading from her face. As he walked away, she realized that he had called her Belle, not dearie.


End file.
